


Displacement

by darknessfactor



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V, Yu-Gi-Oh! Series, Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal
Genre: ARC-V Heartland Arc, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, M/M, Post Zexal Canon, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-16
Updated: 2017-04-24
Packaged: 2018-10-19 12:43:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10640097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darknessfactor/pseuds/darknessfactor
Summary: Tsukumo Yuma is ripped away from everything he knows, and finds himself in a shadow of his home.





	1. Part I

**Author's Note:**

> ...I have no idea what I'm doing.
> 
> (Yeah, so, I've already written the whole thing. C'est fini. I'll update every three days or so.)

After Astral and Yuma reunite, they spend three weeks in the Astral World.

They save the world (again) for the first two and a half, but they get a few days to recuperate afterwards.  Yuma sleeps the first day away, since he and Astral were Zexal for the last three days of fending off the storm of chaos.  He wakes up to find Kotori sound asleep a few feet away from him.  He makes eye contact with Astral hovering over the two of them, sends him a reassuring smile, and then passes out again.

When he wakes up a few hours later, he leaves the room he and Kotori are staying in and looks for the rest of his friends.  Kotori is already with them, sitting and talking to Alito.  Everyone calls out quick greetings to him when he enters the room, and Kaito tosses him a packaged rice ball.

“Courtesy of Orbital,” Kaito tells him.  “He made a food run.”

Yuma realizes that it must be from his grandma, and is quick to unwrap it and dig in.  He makes sure to thank Orbital once he’s finished.

The Astral World wasn’t undamaged in the fight, so the Barians, the Arclights, and Kaito all leave to assist with the cleanup.  After assuring Kotori that he’s right as rain thanks to some sleep and a meal, she and Yuma ask Astral to give them a tour of the Astral World.

It’s definitely a livelier place than it was the last time Yuma was here.  The Astral beings are actually moving around and expressing emotions, talking to their friends or family members as they go about their days.  The light that comes from the crystal makes Yuma feel warm instead of cold, and there’s no sign of the sickness that he helped to cure.

He can’t stop smiling as he sees Astral flit from place to place, enthusiastically explaining the different landmarks and how the spires of crystal are hollowed out to create dwellings for the Astral beings.  It’s rare for him to see his partner so animated.  He can’t deny that he wishes that he and Astral had more time to just be happy like this.  Exploring the world, having fun.  They never did get many chances, thanks to hunting for Numbers and fighting the Barians.

They arrive back at the spire that they’re staying in.  Yuma’s more tired than he was at the start of the tour, but he can’t imagine going back to sleep just yet.

“Alright!” Yuma says.  “Time to go help the others.  Kattobingu!”

“Absolutely not, Yuma!” Kotori protests.  “You’re still recovering!”

“Aww, but Kotoriiiii, I feel fine!”

“Technically speaking,” Astral begins, “The only reason you were not collapsing in the middle of the fight was because Zexal was able to sustain you.  You still have at least another day of sleep to catch up on.”

Yuma sticks his tongue out at him, but it’s hard to be annoyed at Astral when he’s still thrilled that the two of them are together again.  A second later, he’s grinning at him, and Astral’s grinning back and telling him that there’s no helping him.  There’s a lightness in his chest that he doesn’t feel around anyone else and –

Oh.

That’s because his feet have left the ground.

For a few seconds, Yuma is watching everything happen in slow motion.  Both Kotori’s and Astral’s expressions slowly morph into being horrified as he’s pulled away from them, while white light encroaches on his vision.  He reaches out with one hand, already knowing that he’s not going to be fast enough, and sees Astral reach a hand back towards him, hears his name being shouted.

Then the light fills his vision completely, and he hears nothing.

* * *

He spends his first few moments with the wind knocked out of him, staring out over the gray cityscape in disbelief.  He’s on the ground near… he thinks it must be his school, or something close to it, except that it’s little more than a crumbling ruin.  The sky above him is overcast, and he thinks he might be breathing in concrete dust.

It’s Heartland, but it’s also… not.

It can’t be, because Yuma’s home doesn’t look like this.  As if the exact kind of disaster that he and Astral were fighting against came to fruition, and everything that he loves about Heartland is gone.

Eventually, Yuma manages to stand. 

He still has his deck, but his duel disk and D-gazer are back in the Astral World with the rest of his things.  The Numbers are in Astral’s possession, not his, so Hope is also out of the question.

He pinches himself.  It hurts.

Yuma forces himself to take one step, then another, until he’s moving into the ruins of the city.  Every so often, he’ll look at a crumbled structure and realize what restaurant is supposed to be standing there, or see the skeleton of a card game shop, or even sometimes a place where he and Astral had one of their duels. 

How did they miss this?  How could this have happened while he and the others were gone?

How could they have _let_ this happen?

Yuma swallows, and whispers, “Kattobingu.”  There have to be survivors somewhere.  He just needs to find them.

He considers calling out and seeing if anyone will answer, but a feeling of unease keeps him from doing so.  He can’t figure out why, but he’s twitchy; a part of him is expecting to be attacked if he’s found.  He opts for searching in silence, even though calling out to people might make his search go faster.

It takes another hour of wandering before he sees movement in the distance, in front of the wall that leads to the inner part of Heartland City. 

“Hey!” he shouts, immediately breaking into a sprint.  There’s three of them.  Whoever they are, they’re wearing the same red uniform – one that he doesn’t recognize, but he’s still glad to see someone else here.  The figures stop moving, their heads turning in his direction.  He skids to a stop a few feet away.

They’re giving him these incredulous looks, as if he has something on his face.

“I knew there had to be someone else here,” he says.  He notices the strange duel disks strapped to their arms.  “Wait, you guys are duelists?  That’s great!  But uh… can you tell me what happened here?”

The three glance at each other.

“Is he for real?” one finally says.

“Ah, you know,” another answers.  “Every so often we get one who just begs us to get it over with.  They get tired of running after a while.”

The third one smirks at him, and Yuma suddenly feels cold.  “Don’t worry,” the third one says.  “Just stay still, right there, and I’ll explain everything to you.”  He raises his duel disk, his smirk quickly becoming a sneer, and Yuma has a feeling that staying still is about the last thing he wants to do right now.

He only manages to take a step back before he hears shouting from somewhere off to his right.

All four of them turn towards the sound at the same time, and Yuma sees three more people hurrying towards them.  Even at a distance, they couldn’t look more different from the red-jacketed duelists in front of him.

“Shit!” the first duelist hisses.  “It’s those Lancer assholes!”

“Shouldn’t we card this guy?”

“You know what happened to the last ones who faced off against the Lancers, don’t you?”

Yuma blinks twice as the three in the red jackets high-tail it until they’re out of sight.  The three people who replace them are all about his age (maybe a little older), wearing different clothes, and have different duel disks on their arms.

The one with the blond and brown hair takes a step towards him.  Yuma thinks he might be trying to look menacing, or something.  “I guess you thought you would be good enough to take on me, the great Sawatari Shingo!”

“I don’t think he’s from Academia,” the one with green and red hair replies, frowning.  “He doesn’t have a duel disk.”

The blond guy – Sawatari – looks between them, then whirls back towards Yuma.  “In that case, you should be grateful that I, the great Sawatari Shingo, was able to valiantly rescue you from those Academia villains!”

Yuma blinks again.  Pretty much every sentence uttered within the last few minutes has gone straight over his head.  Ah, well.  He’s always been good at just charging ahead, so why not start by introducing himself?

“I’m Tsukumo Yuma!” he says.  “Can you guys tell me what’s happened here?  I’ve been away for a while now, so…”

Judging by the incredulous looks that he gets (for the second time today), he’s asked the wrong question.

* * *

 

Yuya finishes up with his explanation just after they’ve sat down to eat dinner.  Yuma is staring at his bowl of soup, not feeling particularly hungry.

It’s enough to make his head spin, that’s for certain.  For one thing, there’s the whole “there are other dimensions and they have different summoning methods” bit, which… seems weird. 

His first idea is that he’s traveled to the future somehow, but Shun Kurosaki talks about the Xyz Dimension as though no one here knows what Synchro summoning is, which… sure, it was out of date in Yuma’s Heartland, but he knew what it _was_.  He remembers enough of Duel Monsters history to know who Fudo Yusei was and Jack Atlas and other famous Synchro users. 

He keeps that to himself for the moment, though.

His second idea is that this is another world.  It’s not impossible, since both the Astral World and the Barian World are other worlds and he’s traveled to both of those before, but this isn’t the same.  This world is so similar to his, with only a few minor differences that he probably wouldn’t have noticed if they weren’t pointed out to him. 

Yuma can’t confirm either hypothesis.  This is all just too strange.

Academia, on the other hand, makes him feel sick to his stomach.

Next to him, Yuya is clenching his fists.  “Dueling isn’t meant to be used for this.  Dueling is meant to bring smiles to everyone!”

Out of the corner of his eye, Yuma sees Shun shoot Yuya a pained look.  He looks down at his soup again, remembering the last few duels again the Barians (against his _friends_ ), where smiling seemed like the hardest thing he could do, where the only thing that kept him going was his kattobingu and having Astral at his side.

_Yeah,_ he thinks, _for smiles._

Eventually, Yuma chokes down the soup in front of him.  Once he’s helped with cleaning up dinner, Sayaka and Allen get him a spare duel disk.  He learns Allen’s last name and perks up immediately.

“Do you have a sister named Anna?” he asks.

Allen and Sayaka both stiffen.  He feels his stomach drop. 

“I did,” Allen finally mutters.  “She tried to fight.  Got carded.”  He squints at Yuma.  “She never mentioned you, though.”

“Ah, well, y’know, we weren’t super close,” Yuma lies.  “I just remember her from school.”

He’s not sure how much the others are buying his story about being ‘away’ from Heartland for as long as the invasion has been going on.  Shun, in particular, is shooting him suspicious glances. 

Once bedtime rolls around, he finds himself curled on his side.  He doesn’t have a sleeping bag, since he insisted to the others that he’s able to sleep pretty much anywhere.  He keeps one hand closed around the Emperor’s Key.  He tries to make sense of everything that he’s learned, and of how he’s going to get back to Astral and Kotori and the others, but no answers come to him, and eventually he drifts into an uneasy sleep.

* * *

 

His first duel in this strange world-that-is-not-his-world is against Kaito.

This Kaito is so much colder, and so much more angry than the one that he knows.  Kaito has always been somewhat closed off, but Yuma’s Kaito still has his family and his friends.  This one has had to watch them all be taken away from him while he was powerless to stop it, and it seems to have frozen his heart completely.

He’s saddened by the fact that his friend doesn’t recognize him, but it’s no surprise that Kaito would be suspicious of him if he found out the story Yuma’s been telling these people.

Yuma loses.  After all, he doesn’t have Aspiring Emperor Hope right now, and this Kaito still has a Galaxy-Eyes.

He won’t cry, though.  Instead he laughs, and spreads his arms.

“It’s okay if you want to card me,” he says.  “You and me, Kaito… we’re friends.  I can’t imagine the kind of pain you’re going through.  I think, if it’ll help, you should do it.”

Kaito stares, duel disk aimed at him.  Yuma keeps smiling.  In this moment, he truly doesn’t care if Kaito cards him.  It’s enough to know that at least one of his friends has made it.

After a long moment, Kaito lowers his duel disk with a sigh.  “God, what kind of idiot are you?”

“Hey!” Yuma says, pouting.

Kaito looks over at where Shun, Yuya, Gongenzaka, and Sawatari are standing.  “Keep an eye on him.  As in, don’t let him do anything stupid.”

He vanishes before Yuma can even get the chance to really talk to him.  Yuma shakes his head fondly; somewhere deep within Kaito, his heart isn’t completely iced over.

He turns back towards the others; now, they can get back to the Resistance base with the supplies they managed to salvage, and –

“How the hell do you know Kaito if he doesn’t know you?” Shun asks.

…or not.

“Eheh,” Yuma coughs.  “Magic?”

He ends up explaining everything that he knows to them while they walk back to the base, which is… not much.  Just that he’s from Heartland, but not this Heartland, and that he knows what Synchro summoning and Fusion summoning are even though no one in the Xyz dimension knew before the invasion.  He talks about his friendship with Kaito, and participating in the World Duel Carnival, but he leaves out the stuff about Astral and the Barians because… well, that doesn’t seem to have anything to do with this, and an interdimensional war seems like enough to deal with without bringing aliens into the mix.

“So, he’s my rival,” he concludes, folding his hands together behind his head.  “I haven’t beaten him yet, but I will one day!  Just you wait!”

“You’re his rival?” Sawatari asks, frowning.  “He kicked your ass.”

“Yeah, but that’s because I totally didn’t see his Cipher Dragon’s special ability coming.  In my world it’s called ‘Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon’, and its ability is pretty different.”

That gets him curious looks from all three of them, so he explains the differences between the two cards, which leads to him explaining the differences between the two versions of Kaito, which leads to them asking questions about his Heartland altogether.  Shun is the one who asks the most questions, since he’s from this Heartland, but Yuya surprises him with one.

“Is the theme park in your world?  The one with the ferris wheel?”

Yuma doesn’t miss the look Shun gives Yuya.  “Yeah, it’s there.  Me and Kotori have been on that ferris wheel a bunch of times!”

Yuya nods, the serious look on his face not quite suiting him.  Then it’s gone, replaced by the open curiosity that Yuma has come to associate with him. 

Yuma likes Yuya.  He’s seen him do his entertainment dueling exactly once, and he thinks it’s one of the coolest things ever.  Yuya’s someone who really knows how to draw in an audience and open their hearts, and that’s something that Yuma admires.  Plus, Pendulum summoning is awesome; Yuma’s almost jealous.

Once they’re back at the hideout, Yuma pesters Sawatari into dueling him so that he can try out Action Dueling (the disk the Resistance gave him doesn’t have the Crossover field spell, sadly).  It’s the first time that his backflips actually have some use in a duel, and within ten minutes he’s drawn a crowd of onlookers who cheer when he actually vaults off of Sawatari’s shoulders to get an Action Card before him.

He laughs after his victory.  “Action duels are so fun!  I can’t believe we don’t have this back home.  I’m gonna bug Kaito until he and V start working on it.”

His grandma has always said that his enthusiasm is boundless.  He’s never really thought about it before, but considering the way that these people are gaping at him, maybe it’s true.  Maybe that’s what he needs to get through seeing his home in ruins, and being separated from all the people he knows and loves.  He still loves to duel, and he still loves his deck, and Yuya’s great and Gongenzaka’s great and Sawatari’s cool and even Shun can be nice when he’s not so grumpy.

He’ll just have to keep on going with his kattobingu until he finds a way home.


	2. Part II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I probably should've mentioned this earlier, but this fic will (mostly) still align with ARC-V's plot. I don't want Yuma to supercede everything that happens to the ARC-V characters. This is more of a character-focused thing than me trying to change anything major in the plot of ARC-V.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!

The hard part comes the same way as it always does. 

After Sayaka runs off, Yuma follows Allen.  He likes the two of them, and he’s worried about them getting caught by Academia.  They’re confronted by two more of Academia’s soldiers – twins, who seem to be a bit more foreboding than the grunts that they’ve run into before now.

He teams up with Sayaka and Allen against the twins.  He manages to endure even after his partners are defeated, even when he’s been thrown back by attack after attack.  Solid Vision hurts – as much as dueling in Barian Sphere Fields did, and as much as dueling against the Numbers did.  But even when the twins keep pummeling him, he manages to scrape by, whether it’s with a trap, or by activating the effect of Rainbow Kuriboh.

Then Yuya shows up, and he’s teaming up with Yuya, and it’s… well, it’s _fun_.  Despite the danger, and despite the fact that he’s sore and bruised all over, he finds himself grinning as he and Yuya work together almost seamlessly, bouncing around on platforms to get Action Cards. 

Their dueling even has a positive effect on the twins, who seem to enjoy themselves almost as much.

They’re victorious, and he and Yuya both take a bow and share a smile.

Then they’re surrounded by Academia students, and Yuma is backing away, making sure to keep Sayaka and Allen behind him.  Shun, Sawatari, and Gongenzaka are at his side, all with duel disks at the ready, and he feels his heart become heavy when he looks at how many they’re facing.  He’s already exhausted, and he doesn’t want to fight these people – do they even really believe in what they’re fighting for?

Kaito swoops in and saves the day, like a superhero or something, while Yuya accepts the challenge from Academia’s Commander-in-Chief.  Yuma, of course, runs up next to Kaito.

“Get out of here!” snaps Kaito.

“No way!” Yuma protests, already summoning Gagaga Magician and preparing to Xyz summon.  “I’m not just gonna let you take them all on your own!”

Kaito looks like he wants to punch him in the face.  Yuma summons Excalibur and sets Stop Hammer and Double-Up Chance, then looks at him and waits.

“You’re hopeless,” Kaito mutters.

Fifteen minutes later, there are six Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragons on the field, and they’re down to just four more Academia students.  Yuma uses a combo that lets him repeatedly use Stop Hammer and Double-Up Chance every time it’s his turn, so he’s taken out his fair share too.  Kaito has stopped protesting.

The life points of the last student hit zero, and Yuma whoops.  “See?” he crows.  “I told you we’re friends!  We still make a great team!”

Kaito isn’t looking at him, though.  He’s staring at the fifteen or so Academia students on the ground in front of them, all staring at the two of them in terror.

Yuma feels his smile fade.  “Hey, Kaito…”

An explosion comes from above them, and he thinks he hears Yuya yell.  Kaito still doesn’t react.

Yuma has seen the look on his face before.  It’s the one Kaito had when Yuma first met him, when he was on the verge of taking someone’s soul and the Number within.  The way his eyes became set in hatred, the way his mouth had twisted… Yuma had hoped to never see that expression on anyone’s face ever again.

Just when he thinks he’s going to have to beg, Kaito lowers his duel disk.  Relief floods Yuma, and his legs give out from beneath him.

Oh.  Yeah.  He’s been getting thrown around a lot today.  He’s exhausted.

Next thing he knows, Kaito is helping him to his feet, supporting him as they make their way towards the others.  He can’t see Kaito’s face right now, but his actions are speaking for him.

* * *

 

Yuma’s hungry, and he can’t sleep. 

The beds in the Academia headquarters are nice, but the place has a sterile feeling to it that makes Yuma uncomfortable.  He trudges towards the kitchen that Edo had told them about, stifling a yawn as he goes. 

Yuya is sitting at the kitchen table when he opens the door, staring down at a cup of tea.

“Hey,” Yuma calls, pushing his way inside.  He frowns when he finds that there isn’t much in the way of snacks, and he ends up making himself a cup of tea as well.  Maybe it’ll help him sleep.

He sits across from Yuya, who lifts his head.  “Oh, hi,” Yuya says, sounding distracted.  “Sorry, I…”

“Don’t worry about it,” Yuma replies, waving his hand.  “It’s weird here.  I’m surprised anyone is getting sleep.”

“It’s not that.”  Yuya is back to staring into his tea cup.  Judging by the fact that there’s no steam rising from it, he thinks it’s probably cold already. 

There’s no TV, but it reminds Yuma of late nights watching ESPer Robin with Astral.  The thought makes his chest ache with how much he misses him.  He tries not to think about how the stars aren’t visible in this version of Heartland, but at least Astral isn’t missing out on much by not being here.

“You wanna talk about it?” he asks Yuya, taking a sip of his tea.

Yuya looks up at him.  “No… I mean, yeah, but… I don’t want to bother anyone with it.”

“It won’t bother me.  Promise.”  When Yuya continues to look hesitant, Yuma says, “Tell you what.  If you tell me what’s bothering you, I’ll tell you what’s bothering me.”

Yuya blinks.  “Something’s bothering you?”

“Something’s always bothering someone,” Yuma points out.  “I usually just kattobingu until I can get past it, but it’s harder here.  Because there’s not a lot I can do about it right now.  But that isn’t going to stop me!”

Yuya smiles, and he starts talking about Yuzu.

Yuma listens.  Hiragi Yuzu sounds like an amazing person and duelist, and he wishes that he could meet her too.  Maybe challenge her to a duel, because she’s apparently one of the few people who uses Fusion summoning without the intention of carding her opponents afterwards.

“I dunno,” Yuya says, staring down at his mug again.  “I just… sometimes I get so, so worried about her, and I keep imagining what might be happening to her and it’s just… I hate that I keep thinking about it.  But I also miss her, and I miss everyone that we had to leave behind.  My mom, Yuzu’s dad, the kids… and the rest of the Lancers.”

“That’s okay!” Yuma replies.  “I miss people too.”

“You mean from your Heartland?”

“Yeah.”

So, it’s his turn to talk, and he does.  He talks about Kotori and Tetsuo and the rest of the Numbers club.  He talks about the Barians, especially Shark and Rio and Vector, though he likes the rest of them too.  He still leaves out all the alien stuff, but that doesn’t stop him from talking about Astral.  Soon, Astral is all he’s talking about, like if he talks about him more then it’s more like he’s here and maybe the way his chest hurts will _stop_.

“Are you okay?” Yuya asks, and Yuma realizes that he’s crying.

_Oops_.

“Yeah!” he answers, letting out a shaky laugh and swallowing down the lump in his throat.  “Yeah, I’m… I’m fine.  I’ll be okay.  I’m just… I’m gonna go back to bed now, okay?  Thanks for listening!”

Yuya nods slowly, like he doesn’t know if he should let Yuma go or try to help him, but Yuma’s out the door too quickly for him to change his mind. 

There isn’t any roof access in the Academia headquarters, so Yuma goes outside and sits on a tall pile of rubble.  If he closes his eyes, he can almost pretend that he’s back home on the roof of his house, watching the stars with Astral.  For the first time, he lets himself think – not just about how much he misses everyone in this strange world, but about the two months of not seeing Astral after their duel.

It wasn’t perfect.  He knows that.  It was good, or so he thought, but now he’s not so sure.  Even then, there were nights like this one, where he missed Astral so much that it hurt. 

He didn’t know how to talk to Astral about it after they were reunited.  He still doesn’t.  But he makes a promise to himself: once he gets home, he’s going to talk to Astral, and he’s going to find some way so that they can stay in contact this time. 

It’s like Yuya said, when he was talking about Yuzu and his friends: he misses Astral. 

Having a plan somehow makes his chest feel lighter.  He goes back inside, finds the room where he’s staying, and sleeps dreamlessly for the rest of the night.

* * *

 

Though Yuma wants to help rebuild Heartland, he realizes that it’s possible that Academia has something to do with him getting whisked away from his world.  So he ends up traveling with Yuya, Sawatari, Gongenzaka, Shun, and Kaito to the Fusion dimension.

Once again, he’s thrown into several consecutive duels, and it’s a bit too much like the fight against the Barian Emperors.  He briefly meets Yuzu, only for her to be taken almost immediately, leaving Yuya distraught. 

At least then they’re saved by the intervention of the rest of the Lancers.

They all stare at him when Yuma explains his origins.  Glasses guy and ponytail kid both look dubious. 

“We don’t need another Dennis,” ponytail kid says after a moment of silence.

“Like you’re one to talk,” Shun mutters.

Glasses guy clears his throat.  “I believe in your sincerity,” he says to Yuma.  “But you must tread carefully.  Academia is a formidable foe.”

Yuma could make some comment about saving the world from being destroyed by an ancient alien god, but he thinks that remaining silent and nodding might be the best course of action this time.

He’s introduced to almost too many people to keep track of, but Crow’s name is easy to remember, at least.  And not just because it’s a bit unusual.

“You’re Crow Hogan!” he exclaims, practically wringing Crow’s hand.  “Wow, you’re in my dueling history classes, your deck is so cool – hey, does this mean you can Synchro summon?  What’s Yusei Fudo like?  What’s Jack Atlas like?”

“Whoa, whoa,” Crow says, leaning back a bit.  “Uh, let me think a bit… yes, who’s that, and I met the guy like a few weeks ago, so uh… stuck up and arrogant and I kind of hate him but he’s decent, I guess?”

Yuma squawks.  “’Who’s that’?  You’re supposed to be one of Yusei’s best friends!”

Crow scratches the side of his head.  “Yeah, uh, sorry… I really don’t know who that is.”

Yuma frowns.  It must be because of something like what happened to this world’s Kaito – because this Kaito doesn’t know Yuma.  Maybe this Crow doesn’t know Yusei.  It’s not that farfetched of an idea, but it makes him wonder once again what kind of strange world he’s in.

Does his own Heartland exist in another of these dimensions?  Maybe there are five, and Yuma is from the fifth one. 

Yuma doesn’t say any of this out loud, though.  He just says, “Huh.  Weird.”

Akaba Reiji is giving Yuma an assessing look, and it’s making Yuma feel kind of uncomfortable, but then Reiji seems like the kind of person who can stare at someone and make them feel like they’re underneath a microscope. 

While the boat speeds its way towards Academia, Yuma convinces Crow to let him look at his D-Wheel.  He’s immediately reminded of Shark’s bike, and he decides that he’s gonna pester Shark about modifying it to have a duel disk function.  Crow swats his hand away whenever he reaches out to poke it, but he’s happy to answer all of Yuma’s rapid-fire questions.

The other Lancers let Yuma in on their attack plan to get Reiji and Reira through the Academia defenses so that they can confront Akaba Leo.  Yuma blinks in surprise when Reiji suggests that Yuma go with him, Reira, and Sora.

“I can help the others fight,” he points out.

“You could,” Reiji agrees, “but you don’t have the Crossover Field Spell, and Akaba Leo might have something to do with you being here and not where you belong.  This is your chance to get answers.”

Yuma suspects that the real reason is just that Reiji wants to keep an eye on him.  He can’t really blame the guy, so he doesn’t argue further.

Yuma looks at the group of duelists with him, who are all preparing to risk their lives to take down Academia and put a stop to the war.  Sure, the Academia troops who were in Heartland have given up the fight, but those still in the Fusion dimension certainly haven’t.  Yuma wishes there was some way he could be of more help, so that the people that he’s become friends with won’t get carded.

“Good luck, Yuma,” Yuya tells him.

“Yeah, you too,” Yuma replies.  “Get Yuzu back, Yuya.”

Yuya smiles at him, but there’s a hint of pity to it that Yuma can’t stand to look at it.  He knows that it has something to do with their discussion the night before, but he’s made his promise and he’s going to keep it.  That’s all he can focus on right now.

The plan goes off without a hitch.  He, Reiji, Sora, and Reira make it through without incident, while the rest of the Lancers stay behind to fend off the students.  They enter the forbidding castle easily enough, and travel through darkened hallways that make shivers crawl up Yuma’s spine. 

He can’t imagine having to live and train here, where it feels like all the warmth has been sucked out.  He can’t imagine having to learn how to duel by fighting for his life, or sacrificing his friendships so that he can move up the food chain.  To him, it sounds like a living hell.

They catch sight of a garishly dressed man leaning on a girl up ahead.  They both look happy to see the group hurrying towards them, and Reiji and the man (Yuya’s dad, who would’ve thought) take a brief time to catch each other up on what’s happening.  Yuma hangs back, because even knowing about the interdimensional war he still doesn’t understand half of what’s going on.  The most he learns is that the girl’s name is Asuka.

Sora chooses that moment to walk over and wordlessly hand Yuma a lollipop.  It seems a little strange to Yuma, but he takes it all the same.

“Thanks,” he says.

Sora shrugs.  “You look like you could use it.”

Before Yuma can ask him what that’s supposed to mean, Sora walks away, moving to stand next to the girl.  He’s a little bit miffed by that, but he ends up eating the lollipop anyway.

They start to move again through the winding hallways, moving more slowly to accommodate Sakaki Yusho’s injury.  Reiji is in the lead, Reira holding his hand, followed by Asuka and Yusho.  Yuma is behind the two of them, and Sora brings up the rear.

A laugh cuts through the air, making the hairs on his neck stand up.  He does a double-take when he gets a good look at the person laughing at all of them; the resemblance to Yuya is striking, and for a moment Yuma feels the earth-shattering sense of betrayal that he only felt one other time, at Sargasso, before he realizes that the hair and eyes are all wrong.

“I don’t think the Professor will be seeing you all today,” the boy says.  “Unless he’d prefer to see your faces on cards.”

Everything happens so fast after that that it’s all Yuma can do to keep up.  Asuka tackles the boy, pinning him against the wall and yelling for the others to run.  Sora stays behind, trapped by Academia’s defenses, and the girl prepares to duel the boy.  Yuma is shoved ahead by Sora before he, too, can become trapped.

He stares behind him as Asuka activates her duel disk with a grim look on her face – the face of a soldier, even though she rejects Academia’s ideals.  Sora has an equally grim look on his face.  Yuma clenches and unclenches his fists, unable to tear his eyes away until Reira grabs his hand and drags him along.

“Kattobingu,” he mutters to himself.  _Just keep moving forward.  Keep moving forward, and you’ll see them all again._

_Wait for me, Astral._

* * *

 

Akaba Leo is an intimidating man, whose eyes pierce each of them in the same way that his son’s do.  When his gaze lands on Yuma, however, he physically recoils, as though he’s been slapped in the face.

Yuma blinks.  This isn’t the reaction he was expecting.

“Tsukumo Yuma?” he says, slowly, like he’s testing out the name.  When Yuma nods, his expression shuts down almost immediately.  “That’s impossible.”

“What?  What do you mean?” Yuma asks.

Akaba Leo stares at him for a few more moments, before he looks back at Sakaki Yusho.  Yuma almost pouts at being ignored, but then (like the rest of them) he’s caught up in the story that the Professor weaves: about the United World, and how Action Dueling became less about fun and more about bloodshed. 

Before he explains anything else, four girls march into the room, their eyes disturbingly blank.  A man who looks like he belongs in a Frankenstein movie follows them into the room, a gleeful smile on his face.  Yuma instinctively leans away from him, but he forgets that when he recognizes Yuzu as one of the girls.

“My daughter, Ray, was split when she defeated Zarc,” Leo explains.  “She was reborn in each dimension.”

Yuma looks at the four girls – all with identical faces – and he realizes what it is Akaba Leo wants.  A part of him almost understands Akaba Leo’s actions; he wants his daughter back, no matter the cost.  At the same time, though, it’s impossible for him to justify all the pain he’s caused.

A moment later, Yuya pushes the doors open and hurries into the room.

Like everyone else, Yuma turns around, surprised to see Yuya.  He feels himself freeze in place, some part of him warning him against running to Yuya.  He can’t pinpoint just what it is that’s wrong with him, and Yuya is his friend, so he forces himself to relax and move forward to greet him.  He still smiles when Yuya tackles his dad in a hug.

“That boy is not your son.”

Akaba Leo’s words silence them instantly.  Yuma and Yuya both turn towards Leo, both about to protest, but he continues before they can.

“As you know, when Zarc was defeated,” Leo continues, “The United World was split into four different dimensions.  Like Ray, Zarc was also reborn as four different people.”

Yuma feels the pit of dread that first appeared with Yuya’s arrival grow.  He can already guess what’s coming next, but he’s not going to believe it.

“Help me, Reiji,” Leo demands.  “Help me defeat Sakaki Yuya so that the threat of Zarc’s return can never be realized!”

Reiji looks appalled at the suggestion.  Yuma very firmly places himself so that both Reiji and Leo would have to go through him if they wanted to get to Yuya.

“I won’t let you,” he says.

“Then you’re a fool.”

“No, you’re the fool!” Yuma retorts.  “Even if what you’re saying is true, Yuya wouldn’t lose to the will of that Zarc guy.  Yuya duels so that he can make people smile!  I believe in that ideal, and as long as he does too, he’s never gonna turn into a demon!”

“Yuma…” Yuya murmurs.

“Tsukumo Yuma is correct,” Reiji says.  “That is the truth of who Yuya is.  It’s _your_ actions that have led to pain and suffering.”

Yuya moves to stand next to Yuma. 

“Are you alright?” Yuma asks him.

Yuya shakes his head, but it’s more like he’s trying to clear it instead of a negative answer. 

“I think… I will be.”  Yuma sees Yuya’s throat move as he swallows.  Not the most reassuring of answers, but Yuma trusts him.

“You more than anyone should understand the necessity of ridding this world of evil, Tsukumo Yuma,” Akaba Leo says, drawing Yuma’s attention back to him. “I know of you from the history of the United World.  Renowned as one of the greatest Xyz users to have ever lived, was involved in some strange circumstances.  Your duel against Tron was legendary.”  He pauses.  “You passed away almost a century before my time.”

In the silence that follows that statement, a penny could have been dropped and it would’ve sounded like a bomb going off.

Yuma laughs nervously.  “That’s funny.  Um… what?”

Reiji does that thing with his glasses where he pushes them up the bridge of his nose.  “I believe he’s trying to say that you’ve traveled forward in time.”

Which would explain a lot, but… it’s still hard for him to take in.  The sick feeling in his stomach comes back, stronger than before, and he does his best not to think about how all his friends have been dead for over a century.  A part of him wants to rage and scream and ask _how this could have happened,_ but even just looking at Akaba Leo, he knows that this man won’t be able to give him the answers he seeks. 

“Yuma?”

He sucks in deep breaths, but they don’t stop him from feeling like he’s suffocating.  Someone is calling his name, more forcefully each time, but he can’t bring himself to respond or even move because this is too much and now he really doesn’t know how he’s going to get out of here or why he’s been sent here and why isn’t Astral here with him –

The side of his face stings, and he realizes two things: that Reiji has hit him, and that Yuya has been calling his name repeatedly.

He sends a shaky smile at Yuya.  Yuya doesn’t look any less worried.

“You told us that you didn’t believe in Academia’s ideals,” Reiji says, and for a split second Yuma is reminded of himself.  “If that’s true, then fight with us.  End the war here.  If you’re one of the greatest Xyz users of all time, then we’ll need you.”

And that’s all true, Yuma knows.  He might not have the Numbers with him anymore, but he’s proven that he can beat Astral even without using them.  He nods at Reiji, and Reiji nods back, before the three of them turn towards Akaba Leo.

_Kattobingu,_ Yuma thinks, swallowing down his tears and feeling a surge of determination.  _I just need to kattobingu._

He’s not going to let Akaba Leo hurt anyone else.  He can focus on getting home after that.


	3. Part III

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the sappiest shit I've ever written. No joke.

Easier said than done.

It’s three-on-one, but with Yuma’s attention divided between Yuya and Leo (Yuya because he’s constantly wavering between being in pain and being violent, and Leo because he’s the one Yuma’s fighting against), and Reiji caught off guard by Akaba Leo’s strategies, they’re losing this fight.  Yuma has Gagaga Cowboy on his field, but his life points are down to 300.  Yuya and Reiji aren’t any better off.

Yuma has never seen someone fight against themselves as hard as Yuya is fighting right now.  He’s amazed that Yuya can even concentrate on the duel when he’s constantly choking down his own darkness.  It strikes Yuma as being completely unfair to Yuya – he clearly doesn’t want this destiny, and he’s fighting it with everything he has.

It gets progressively worse as the duel goes on.  Yuya’s breathing becomes harsher, and his tone becomes darker, until he loses the last shred of control and calls out a terrifying attack on Akaba Leo.

His own father is the one who stops him, pinning Yuya to one of the pillars while Yuya screams.

Yuma watches, helpless, as Akaba Leo makes his retreat into ARC-V, about to fulfill his plan to reunite the dimensions and retrieve his daughter.  Four innocent girls are about to lose their lives– but there’s no time to think about that now.  Yuya’s dad is running off, presumably to stop Zarc from reviving.

Reira, on the other hand, claims to be able to hear Ray’s voice, and challenges Reiji to a duel when Reiji refuses to accept Ray’s revival.  Yuma hurries over to where Yuya is pinned against the pillar, still screaming. 

“Yuya!” he calls.  “Yuya, remember Yuzu?  She wouldn’t want this!  No, she _doesn’t_ want this – because even now, she’s waiting to be able to go back home to Standard with you!”

For a few seconds he’s not sure that his words have gotten through to Yuya, but finally the other boy starts to calm down, sounding like he’s choking down his screams.  Yuma, not sure what else to do, just starts _talking_ – about everything and nothing.  About nonsense like his school life and his friends, about how he and Kotori used to play against each other on his sister’s gaming console, and about all of Astral’s observations about the world. 

Eventually, he realizes that Yuya has stopped making noise completely, and he looks up to meet Yuya’s gaze.  Something is still wrong – the darkness is not completely gone – but Yuya seems to mostly be in control at this point. 

“Yuma,” he croaks, and Yuma realizes that his throat must be raw. 

“Yeah,” he says, smiling.  “I’m here.”

Their reprieve is brief.  Sakaki Yusho returns, and with him is the last person that any of them want to see.  Yuya starts to struggle again, making pained noises in his throat.

This kid, Yuri, wants to become Zarc about as much as Yuya wants to avoid it.

Yuma thinks about how Yuya was willing to listen to him in the middle of the night, and how happy he was when he got the chance to Action Duel alongside him, and about how Yuya was willing to trust him before anyone else was.  The next thing he knows, he’s stepping up alongside Sakaki Yusho to protect him, even though Yuri shows next to no interest in dueling him.

Yuma does the only thing he can think of at this point.

“Yuya’s my friend,” he boasts.  “Me and him have forged out bonds through dueling, and that’s not something that you would ever be able to understand!”

By the time he’s finished saying that, Yuri has an ugly look on his face.  He wordlessly activates his duel disk.  Yuma responds in kind.

What follows is one of the toughest duels of Yuma’s life.  Not just because Yuri is a dangerous opponent – he proves that much by wiping out nearly all of Yuma’s life points in one of his turns – but because this is one of the few life-threatening duels that Yuma’s had to do when he’s… alone.  Not alone, because Yuya’s dad is fighting with him, but still…

Yuri summons Starve Venom Fusion Dragon and Clear Wing Synchro Dragon in the same turn, and proceeds to soundly defeat Yusho.  Yuya’s dad is carded right before Yuya’s very eyes, and Yuya’s responding scream is something that almost makes Yuma want to clamp his hands over his ears.

He’s still in this fight, though, so he forces himself to straighten up and ignore Yuya’s grief.

“I definitely won’t forgive you,” Yuma growls.  “And I’ll definitely save Yuya!”

Yuri lets out a disbelieving laugh.  “You’ve just witnessed what I can do to you, and you still want to fight me?  Most of them run by now.”

It’s true that Yuri has the upper hand.  He’s got two powerful dragons on his side of the field, while Yuma currently has one monster and he’s not optimistic about his ability to keep it on the field.  He knows that, for him, a loss means getting carded, and it will mean losing Yuya to Yuri – to Zarc.

Oddly enough, Yuma’s not scared right now.  He’s not sure why that is – maybe it’s acceptance of being in the future, or maybe he’s just realizing how little he stands to lose.

No, that’s not right.  His chest doesn’t feel hollow, the way it did after he lost Astral to 96, and there are things that he can lose.  It takes him a few moments to place the feeling.

Hope.

He doesn’t know where it’s coming from, nor does he care.  A laugh – a real laugh – bubbles out of his chest, startling Yuri.

“I haven’t given up before,” Yuma says.  “Why would I start now?  _Kattobingu da, ore_!”

He feels power surge through him as he draws his card, and hears a voice that sounds oddly like Astral telling him what he needs to do.  A few moments later, Numbers F0: King of the Future, Hope is on his field, and everyone in the room has been shocked into silence. 

“Numbers,” Yuri murmurs after a moment, staring up at the monster.  Then he smirks.  “Maybe you’re not so boring after all.”

Yuma uses Numbers F0 to take control of Starve Venom, turning its ability against Yuri.  Judging by the way Yuri’s eyes widen, he’s unprepared for this strategy.  After a few more plays, Yuma watches as Yuri’s life points click down to zero.

_I did it, Astral,_ he thinks distantly.  _I protected the future.  Maybe someday I’ll be able to tell you about it._

It’s then that he realizes that it’s become oddly silent.  He can’t quite figure out why, until Yuya walks right past him, his face shadowed.

Yuma blinks, then all but jumps on him.

“No, Yuya!” he shouts.  “It’s over, _it’s over_ , you don’t have to – “

He’s flung away from Yuya like a rag doll, and for a moment his eyes meet Yuya’s.  He sees the depthless rage there, and even as he lands on his feet and prepares to launch himself at Yuya again, Yuya’s hand falls on Yuri’s shoulder.  Yuma screams his name, but -

It’s too late.

* * *

 

How many times are Yuma’s friends going to turn out to be his enemies?

Granted, in this case Yuya fought against Zarc’s will with everything he had, but that almost makes it _worse_.  To know that Yuya withstood dueling against Akaba Leo and being in such close proximity to Yuri, only for him to break after his father was carded.  To know that Yuya didn’t want this – doesn’t want this (Yuma has to believe that Yuya is still in there, somehow) – and yet he was forced into it anyway.

Yuma doesn’t want to think about what Yuya might be feeling right now, trapped within Zarc.

He finds Zarc just in time to watch as first Sora and Edo, then Kaito and Shun, are all defeated by the Demon King.  They’re still alive, but they’re lying on the ground like slugs.  Jack and Gongenzaka move forward next, and Yuma can’t even muster elation at getting to see the legendary Jack Atlas in action. 

He has his duel disk at the ready, prepared to intervene, despite his exhaustion from his duel with Yuri.

His chance comes sooner than he expected.  Crow and Shingo are both taken out, so he steps up to face Zarc.  Alone.

“I never got to fight one of the dueling legends,” hisses Zarc, eyeing him like he’s a piece of meat.  “Your defeat will almost be as entertaining as the destruction of this world.”

It’s the most that Zarc has said that doesn’t involve the duel itself.  Yuma activates his duel disk, grimacing at the intrusion penalty.

He has to get through to Yuya in this duel.  More than just wanting to save the world, he’s not leaving his friend behind in the darkness.

He considers the advantage that Zarc has.  The Supreme King Dragon can harness the powers of the all the summoning methods – including Pendulum summoning.  He runs several scenarios through his head (something he’s gotten better at doing since meeting Astral), and glances at the cards in his hand. 

He can probably summon Future Hope, but that’s not going to be enough.  If he’s going to stand a chance in this duel, he’ll need the rest of the Numbers, and accessing them is impossible in his current situation. 

Buying time, then.  Reiji is a formidable duelist.  If he gets here, he might actually stand a chance against Zarc.

Yuma draws.

Immediately he knows that he’s pulled off another Shining Draw, and wastes no time in summoning Numbers F0.  The presence of his own Number is somewhat comforting to him, even as Zarc leers down at him from where he is merged with the Supreme King Dragon. 

Yuma sets three cards face down.  “Bring it.”

By some miracle, he manages to last through Zarc’s turn.  It’s a step further than any of the others, but he’s lost Future Hope and he’s been left with no monsters on his side of the field.  He’s already down to 200 life points. 

For a moment, his mind betrays him.  It makes him wonder about what will happen if they all fail today. 

If they fail, then they will all die here, and Yuma will never get back home to Astral and Kotori and Shark and everyone else he knows.  He finds himself gripping the Emperor’s Key, not wanting to die without…

_Astral,_ he thinks.  _I love you.  I missed you so much in those two months.  I’m glad I got to see you again, one last time.  As much as I wish you were here now, I… I’m happy that you’re not.  Because it means that you’re safe.  And that’s enough._

He doesn’t realize that he’s crying again until a tear drips onto the hand gripping the key.

Immediately, he’s blinded by golden light, and he hears the alarmed shouts of the Lancers before it’s drowned out by someone saying his name.  He reacts, knowing this sensation instinctively, by opening his heart up, feeling love pour into him, brushing his own sadness and resignation aside like they’re merely wisps. 

And then they’re Zexal, and Astral is with him.

_I heard you_ resonates around him – through him – and for a moment he just lets himself (themselves) exist, wanting to be in this moment forever.  Astral expresses the same feelings.  His words are a reflection of Yuma’s own: _I missed you_ and _I love you_ and _I’m so glad that you’re here._

There’s no more time for them to converse within their shared mind, but that doesn’t matter.  What matters is that Astral is here, somehow, and for the first time Zarc looks a little uncertain.  What matters is that he can effortlessly convey how much he loves Astral, and know how much he is loved in return.

They breathe together, and then draw their card.

* * *

 

Even after summoning all the versions of Hope, they’re overwhelmed, but they last long enough for Reiji to show up.  Reiji lasts long enough for Reira to appear, apparently possessed by Ray, and Ray activates the four cards that can destroy the Supreme King Dragon. 

They undo Zexal during Reiji’s duel.  Yuma barely has enough energy to keep his eyes open, much less move, but then Astral helps him to sit up.

“Yuma.”  The amount of warmth in Astral’s voice makes Yuma smile, but then his smile fades as he remembers.

“I didn’t want you to be here,” Yuma murmurs.  “’S dangerous.”

“And when has that ever stopped me?  Or you, for that matter.”

Yuma chuckles weakly, then feels Astral take hold of his hand, lacing their fingers together.

It’s not a bad vantage point for watching the rest of the duel.  Yuma lets out a weak cheer when Yuya finally breaks through Zarc, shouting that he doesn’t want to be a demon.  Reira finishes Zarc off, and then Yuma feels a strange weight in his stomach as the world starts to tear itself apart once again.

He would shout if he had the energy, but all he can muster is a whisper: “Don’t let go, Astral.”

“Never,” Astral replies.


	4. Part IV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess what? It's STILL SAPPY.

Yuma hauls in the last of the food supplies, courtesy of Academia.  He gives Allen a thumbs-up.

Sayaka is in charge of inventory, and she immediately sets to work, barking orders at everyone else.  Allen comes over to Yuma, nudging him, probably glad that they’re finished unloading.

“Figured out what you’re gonna do yet, future guy?”

Allen has started calling him that, and the name has apparently stuck.  People call him that even though he’s not actually from the future - he’s just _in_ the future.  Yuma rolls his eyes at Allen in response to the nickname, but considers his question.

“Not sure,” he says.  Astral has been cagey about ways to get them back to the past, and Yuma can’t figure out why.  He also won’t tell him about how Astral got to the future in the first place, no matter how much Yuma pesters him for answers.  “For now, I’m still going to kattobingu and just keep helping out here.  You guys are growing on me.”

“You and your ‘kattobingu’,” Allen snorts.  “Weirdo.”

“Hey!”

“Look, you talk to your invisible best friend all the time!  People notice.”

Yuma shrugs.  He’s never shied away from talking to Astral in public before, and he’s not about to start now.  Besides, it’s not that unusual.  For some reason, every single person who was carded can see Astral. 

Astral, who up until now has been hanging above Sayaka, looking curious, floats back over to him.

“Yuma,” he says.  “May I speak with you privately?”

Yuma blinks.  “Sure,” he tells Astral, and then says bye to Allen.  He heads for one of the back rooms of the Resistance base.  Since the rebuilding is well underway, and there’s more housing available for people, the base is quieter these days.  Many of the back rooms are abandoned.

He sits down with his back against the wall.  Astral sits cross-legged facing him.  He looks nervous.

“Is… everything okay?” Yuma ventures. 

“Yes and no,” Astral answers.  “Yuma… I remember the day you vanished.  I also remember that you returned a few minutes later, looking shaken but none the worse for wear.  You wouldn’t tell any of us what happened to you, only that you went somewhere you weren’t meant to go.”

“That’s great!” Yuma says.  “That means that I do go back eventually, right?”

“Yes.”  Astral shifts in place.  “Yuma… that happened over a hundred years ago for me.”

Oh.

_Oh_.

Yuma swallows.  “You… you’re not the Astral I left behind, right?  You’re the present Astral.  You’re from this time.”

“Correct.”

Astral is looking at him with such tenderness, but also with such sorrow, and Yuma can’t believe that he never saw it before.

“Astral…” he starts, but Astral cuts him off.

“I’ve missed you.”

Yuma laughs quietly.  “I was supposed to say that to you.”  But now it seems foolish in comparison; what is two months to an entire century?  “How did you know I needed you?  I… I think I was saying goodbye, when…”

“I heard you,” Astral says.  “I thought that I’d felt something earlier, but I never knew what it was, and I did not dare to hope… Yuma, there are days when I see you in everything, and I thought it was simply another of those days.  But then I heard your voice, as clear as if you were right in front of me, and I knew that I had to go to you.”

Yuma blushes at the intense look that Astral is giving him.  “W-we’re always bonded, you and me.”  He pauses, still trying to digest that.  “Did you know about the dimensions being split?  Seems like something the Astral World would notice.”

“We suspected,” Astral replies.  “After the split occurred, however, travel to Earth became impossible.  We never could understand why.  That door was reopened when ARC-V was started up and the dimensions were reunited once more.”

“Wait!”  Yuma shoots up in alarm.  “Doesn’t that mean you’re trapped here, now?  The dimensions are split again!”

“I have yet to attempt to return to the Astral World.  But it is possible that that is the case, yes.  But… I would not be opposed to remaining here.  Many of the people in the Xyz dimension can see me, and none of them seem alarmed at my appearance.  Perhaps I could be of some help with the rebuilding.”

Yuma likes the idea of Astral floating around Heartland City, providing whatever help he can (though he’s not sure what that would be, without a physical body), but… “Doesn’t the Astral World need you?”

Astral smirks; Yuma has missed that expression.  “The Astral World has been at peace for years.  I suspect that they could do without me for a little while.”

Silence falls between them, and Yuma reflects that Astral’s reluctance to help him leave makes sense now.  He thinks that he would probably be even more selfish if their positions were reversed.  He almost offers to stay with this Astral, because he doesn’t want to be the one to have put that look on his face, but he knows that that’s impossible.

“I can send you back,” Astral says after a moment.  “You only needed to ask me.”

Yuma gapes at him.  “Since when is that something you can do?”

“It was always possible,” Astral answers.  “But it is usually one of the worst crimes that an Astral being can commit.  We are not meant to meddle with the laws of time.”

“So… you’re not the one who brought me here.”  Yuma frowns.  “Wait, what if you are, but you just haven’t done it yet?”

Astral blinks.  “Your hypothesis is that I brought you to the future because I knew you would be brought to the future?”

“Wow, yeah, that’s gonna give me a headache if I think about it too much.”

“It is not an unsound theory.”

“That almost sounded like a compliment.”

Yuma leans back against the wall, remembering the promise he made to himself.  Now it’s his turn to be nervous.  He’s not sure whether he should be bringing this up to this Astral – if it’s even fair to him, since he has apparently lost Yuma.

As always, Astral sees right through him.  “What is troubling you?”

“Ah, uh…”  Yuma rubs the back of his neck.  “I’ve been wondering… after our duel against each other, when we parted ways… life was good, but I still missed you.  A lot.  Getting to reunite with you was great, too, but I wish that we didn’t have to just meet up when the fate of the world is at stake.  I’ve been wondering how to bring that up with you.  Past you, I mean.”

Astral’s eyes twinkle a bit.  “I imagine that you would do so in the same way you do anything: shout ‘kattobingu’ and then confront me head on about it.”

“Yeah, sounds like me.”  Yuma shoots upright again.  “Wait a second!  You already know what I’m going to do about it, don’t you?”

“I can neither confirm nor deny that.”

Yuma hums happily.  “That sounds like a confirmation to me.”

They grin at each other, but Yuma’s grin quickly fades.  “Astral, I’m sorry.”

Astral shakes his head much more vehemently than Yuma is expecting.  “I will not have you apologizing for this, Yuma.  You are not at fault.  I… I merely have to remind myself, at times, that you are still with me.”  He puts a hand on his chest.  “Here.”

Yuma knows it’s not quite the same.  Still, he scoots forward and layers his hand on top of Astral’s.

“If I died, that’s the only place I’d go, anyway,” he says.

They stay like that for a few moments, until Yuma remembers that he hasn’t gotten to properly hug Astral in weeks, and promptly tackles him.

* * *

 

He delays his inevitable departure by about a week.  There’s someone else he needs to see before he goes.

As it turns out, he doesn’t even have to go to the trouble of traveling to the Standard Dimension; some invisible force grabs both him and Astral and deposits them in a stadium that he doesn’t recognize.  He watches as Yuya pulls Yuzu out of a sphere of light, both of them with tears in their eyes.

He doesn’t think he’s ever seen Yuya so happy, or lighthearted.

Yuma stays back while the others congregate around Yuya, offering him their congratulations for winning his duel against Reiji.  Astral floats beside him.

Eventually, Yuya heads over to him.

“Hey, Yuma,” he says.  His eyes travel over to Astral, which doesn’t surprise Yuma; Yuya seems like he’d be the most likely to be able to see the alien.  “I wanted to thank you for everything.  For helping us, even though it wasn’t your fight.”

 “Aww, it was nothing,” Yuma answers.  “I don’t think I could’ve stood by even if I wanted to.  I’m glad that I at least got to see your duel with Dennis, though!  That was really cool!  And I’m glad that Yuzu’s back.”

“Me too,” Yuya agrees.  He glances over at Astral again, then sticks out a hand.  “I’m Sakaki Yuya!  I’m guessing you’re Astral.”

Astral’s hand goes right through Yuya’s, but it’s the thought that counts.  “It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Sakaki Yuya.  Yuma speaks very highly of you.”

“Of me?” Yuya asks.  “You should hear the way he talks about _you_.”

Astral’s eyes travel over to Yuma, in the way that makes Yuma suddenly feel very nervous.  “I’m well aware of Yuma’s feelings toward me.”

“Guys, I’m right here,” Yuma mutters, blushing furiously.

Yuya laughs good-naturedly, but he quickly stops himself.  “You’re leaving, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, I am,” Yuma says.  “I wanted to be able to talk to you, first, but… yeah.”

“Eh?  What about?”

“It’s my turn to thank you,” Yuma answers.  “Thanks for being my friend, Yuya.  I’m really glad that I got to meet you.”

Yuya beams at him.  “Same here!  You’re amazing, Yuma.  Kattobingu, right?”

“Yeah!”

They high-five each other and burst out laughing, and then Yuya is pulled away by another of his friends.

“Everywhere you go, you have an impact on people,” Astral comments.

“You mean every _when_ ,” Yuma corrects.

“That as well.”

He looks up at Astral, who still looks the way he did when Yuma was pulled away from him over a century ago.  He’ll believe that this Astral will be alright, even without him.  He’ll have faith that one day (whether it’s a day or a billion years from now) they’ll be together again.

“Are you ready?” Astral asks him. 

“Yeah.  Kattobingu, Astral!”

Astral smiles at him, raising his hand.  “But of course, Yuma.”  And then Yuma’s feet are leaving the ground.  In this moment, looking into Astral’s eyes, he could really believe that he’s flying.


End file.
